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A landscaping company from New Jersey has sued Ford, alleging that the automaker knowingly sold defective vehicles for a decade. According to Automotive News, the lawsuit brought by Coba Landscaping and Construction Inc accuses Ford of selling vehicles with defective fuel tanks, and working to hide the known issue from customers.

The lawsuit concerns the fuel tanks in the 1998-2008 Ford F-Series pickup trucks and E-Series (a.k.a. Econoline) vans. It asserts that over time, the internal fuel tank lining would separate and “flake off.” Those flakes could clog the vehicles’ fuel systems with metal flakes or rust, causing the engine to lose power or stall.

The suit further alleges that Ford issued a technical service bulletin on the problem to dealers in 2007 — but that notice was reportedly “secret” and never shared with customers. The fuel tank failure could have affected “hundreds, if not thousands” of vehicle owners across the country.

A Ford spokeswoman told us today she couldn’t comment on the lawsuit. The suit was only filed yesterday, and Ford has not yet been served with the complaint. The company says it would be “premature” to comment on the lawsuit before it has reviewed the legal document.